By Jonathan Landay and Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s administration is ending most if not all of remaining U.S. aid for Afghanistan and Yemen, according to nine sources, including six U.S. officials familiar with the matter, a move expected to drive the countries deeper into humanitarian crises, putting millions of lives at risk.
The cuts were among numerous aid programs terminated for more than a dozen countries over the weekend by the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development, according to Sarah Charles, a former head of USAID’s humanitarian affairs bureau, and the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A State Department spokesperson referred Reuters to the White House when asked about the program terminations. White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the U.N. was trying to get details on cancelled contracts.
The cuts are the latest move in the Trump administration’s drive to dismantle USAID, the main U.S. humanitarian aid agency. His administration has canceled billions of dollars in life-saving programs, throwing the global development world into chaos.
Many of the terminated programs had initially been granted waivers by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio from cuts to thousands of foreign aid programs made by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency since February, three of the sources said.
The U.S. has been the largest aid donor to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and to Yemen, most of which is controlled by Islamist militants of the Iran-backed Houthi movement. Both countries have suffered years of devastating war.
“Every remaining USAID award for Afghanistan was terminated,” said one source. The officials said the cancelled funds included assistance for a U.N. agency that helps women and girls, the World Food Program (WFP) and at least six non-governmental organizations.
The WFP website says the agency provided emergency food and cash to nearly 12 million Afghans last year, prioritizing the help for women and girls facing “extreme hunger.”
The WFP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Assistance to Afghans provided by the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration also was terminated, five sources said.
The terminations will worsen both countries’ humanitarian crises, putting millions of desperate people at risk of starvation, and could fuel new waves of illegal immigration, according to several sources and experts.
DEVASTATING FOR THE MOST VULNERABLE
Nearly 23 million people, more than half of whom are children, are in need of assistance in Afghanistan, according to the U.N.
“The Afghan awards were very carefully targeted at the most life-saving activities,” said Charles, who left USAID in January 2024. “This will be devastating to the most vulnerable in Afghanistan who are…under the thumb of the Taliban.”
The U.N. says the U.S. has so far given $206 million in assistance for Afghanistan this year. Last year, it was the largest donor – giving $736 million – to the country wrecked by decades of war that ended with the Taliban seizing power as the U.S. withdrew its last troops in August 2021.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which focuses on sexual and reproductive health, was first told at the end of February that a $24 million two-year grant for work in Afghanistan had been terminated. At the same time, a $17 million two-year grant for work in Syria was also terminated.
Both terminations were rescinded by Washington within days. On Friday, both grants were once again terminated, said UNFPA.
The cutoff of aid to Afghanistan also could unleash new economic instability as it will affect shipments of dollars to a private bank in Kabul for exchange into afghanis, the national currency, by the United Nations to fund aid operations.
The cuts may also stoke conditions that prompt people to join extremist groups like Islamic State’s Afghanistan-based branch, known as ISIS-K, U.S. officials said.
Reuters also reviewed the text of a USAID letter informing an undisclosed Yemen aid contractor that the termination was ordered by Jeremy Lewin, an acting USAID assistant administrator and a DOGE operative overseeing the dismantling of USAID, including the termination of thousands of employees.
“The decision to terminate this individual award,” the letter said, “is pursuant to a review and determination that the award is inconsistent with the Administration’s priorities.”
According to U.N. data, more than 19 million of Yemen’s 35 million people are in need of help, with some 17 million “food insecure.” The U.S., which has provided $768 million last year according to the U.N., has provided so far this year $15 million in assistance to Yemen.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay, Patricia Zengerle and Humeyra Pamuk; additional reporting by Michelle Nichols in United Nations and Emma Farge in Geneva; Editing by Humeyra Pamuk)
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